The roller derby match between the Gorge Roller Girls and the Storm City Roller Girls at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center last Saturday drew fans from around the Gorge. The Gorge Roller Girls are in their second season of play with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), an international organization with over 400 active leagues.

Of The Dalles’ 18 swimmers competing at Saturday’s La Grande Invitational, 14 posted personal records and there were 22 all-time best times recorded, as both the girls and boys combined for 465.5 points and a tie for third place with Baker City in the five-team field.

Of The Dalles’ 18 swim athletes competing at Saturday’s La Grande Invitational, 14 posted personal records in at least one event and there were 22 all-time best times recorded, as both the girls and boys combined for 465.5 points and a tie for third place with Baker City in the five-team field.

Over the past three years, Jason and Julie Hull have consistently shown that their shooting touch is second to none. While facing competitors from The Dalles to Baker City, the Maupin natives combined to shoot 40 of 50 to take home first-place honors for the third year in a row at the Elks Northeast District I Free Throw event held on Sunday, Jan. 6 at Sandstone Middle School in Hermiston.

Through the year, local sports fans can appreciate the greatness of these athletes’ accomplishments in every game they play.
When looking at the past year and what transpired, it is a sensational year of records falling, champions crowned and teams banding together for fantastic finishes during district and state action.

Normally, dancers and cheerleaders perform at smaller venues in front of mainly family and friends. There are some nerves, some sweating and nervous anticipation, but the adrenaline is pumping. On Saturday, Dec. 8, 47 members of The Dalles Dance Club Academy were given an opportunity to show off a six-minute routine in front of a capacity crowd of 19,359 at the Moda Center in Portland during a Trail Blazers basketball game.

Already facing more than 3,000 of the best harriers, 10 Athletics East participants had to deal with high elevation, below freezing temperatures, snow and mud on Dec. 8 at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in Reno, Nev. As the program’s first team to compete on the national stage, this group finished 13th out of 19 teams.

Of the eight teams at last weekend’s Bend Invitational Meet, The Dalles swim team competed against three 6A, two 4A and two 5A programs and had 15 out of 20 swimmers set personal records in at least one event.
Two meets in and head coach Derek Shortt is feeling good about the direction his swimmers are headed.

In his second year in charge, Gorge Youth Basketball League president Brian Stevens had 56 teams with boys and girls hailing from Washington and Oregon, from the first-through-eighth grades, assembled for game action at both Wahtonka High School and Kurtz Gym. Last year, there were 42 teams, and of the 56 this year, 27 represented The Dalles and 29 from outside of The Dalles, with more than 300 signups locally.

Scott McKay was all smiles as he spoke to community members, coaches, as well as current and former swimmers at a retirement ceremony organized by The Dalles swim team board of directors on Dec. 2 at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center.

The Dalles swim team kicked off its first meet of the season with 10 top-5 finishes, including two wins by Kendall Webber, a runner-up outcome out of Hannah Haight and a second-place time from the girls’ 200-yard relay squad at last Saturday’s River City Invitational held in Scappoose.

Brick by brick, the building of a powerhouse football program is taking shape in The Dalles. That is why it was an important first step for 11 athletes to earn the chance to participate in the Football University/Island Boy Camp National Championships last week in Tacoma, Wash.